My name is Simone and I am a senior at Centennial High School. The National Family Resiliency Center (NFRC) has been a part of my life for over six years. I was a client after my mom and stepfather separated in 2008; later, I became a peer counselor. A peer counselor is an individual, who has had previous experience with a family transition, such as divorce or separation, and, with the help of counseling, has been able to work through many of the associated challenges. Peer counselors contribute to group sessions b...

This guest blog is from one of NFRC’s volunteer peer counselors; out of respect for her family’s privacy, we will call her Ilene. Going through a divorce can be mind-numbingly complicated. If you’re the person asking for the divorce then you’ve probably done some research into the process. If you are the person who has been unwillingly thrust into this situation, you may feel frozen and unable to figure out how to cope. A member of the latter group, I am a person told a divorce would occur. Within a few s...

The Gifts of Hindsight and Being Equipped with the Right Tools This guest blog is from one of NFRC’s adult parent peer counselors. Her story is compelling and powerful, and out of respect for her family’s privacy, we will call her TC. When my daughter’s father and I separated, the first thing I did once I got my breath, was look at the statistics. As an African-American child from a [now] single-parent family, they were dismal. I made the decision then and there that since she had no input and no control ...

The following is a guest blog from Cortland Jones, one the parent educators at NFRC’s monthly co-parenting seminars. “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” – Jimi Hendrix The power of love overcoming the love of power came to mind during a memorable conversation with a parent, inquiring how to best cope with a power struggle with the child’s other parent. The question included genuine disbelief, because no apparent conflict had been previously e...